Beginners and Beyond

1

First Marathon Advice (Read 37 times)

lizardrunner


    Hello all! I will be running my first marathon in April of 2018. I plan to start training at the end of November. I'm running the Coastal Delaware Marathon which is a super flat race at the beach.

     

    I have been running for eight years, but never attempted a marathon due to repeated stress fractures. I haven't had a stress fracture in over 3 years now, so I feel like I can finally handle the mileage and intensity of marathon training. I have never run for speed, so my PRs are kind of weird:

    Half Marathon - 1:56 (8:52 per mile)

    10 miler - 1:34 (9:24 per mile)

    10K - 55:01 (9:00 per mile)

    I recently introduced speedwork and tempo runs while training for for my leg of the Baltimore relay and I finished with 8:40 splits (6.3 miles total). I'd like to continue to improve my times.

     

    Would 4:15 be a reasonable goal for my marathon time? 

    Also, any recommendations for training plans? I really like the look of the Boston Athletic Association Beginners plan so far, but I would like any more suggestions. I'd like to keep my running to 4 days per week due to my injury history. If anyone has experienced stress fractures and still runs marathons I would love to hear anything that has worked for you with prevention/nutrition/anything else.

    Thanks!!

    Half Crazy K 2.0


      Welcome. No experience with stress fractures, but maybe get Hudson's book, Run Faster and see if you can tweak the 3 day master's plan to fit your needs.

       

      And a word of warning about running on the coast. Yes, it's flat. But it is rare that there is not wind, which can be worse than hills. Speaking from experience, ran the Atlantic City half in gale force winds.

      Bert-o


      I lost my rama

        Howdy.  April is pretty far off so you have plenty of time to prepare.  4:15 might be doable if you get enough training volume (weekly miles), but on 4 days/week that's going to be difficult.  It's a balancing act between getting the necessary training and staying injury free... we're all different in this regard.

         

        Where are your stress fractures?  You might want to experiment with different shoes.

         

        Also, you might want to post this in the Marathon Race Training forum.  You'll get good pace advice there (at least better than what I can offer).  Good luck!

        3/17 - NYC Half

        4/28 - Big Sur Marathon  DNS

        6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour

        8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours

        lizardrunner


          Thanks!! Maybe I will repost there. My stress fractures have been all over, femur, metatarsal, cuneiform, tibia x 2. Mostly on the left side. I have custom orthotics now that have been working for a few years and I worked with a physical therapist for a long time to improve my gait (I overpronate badly) and strengthen my glutes. I'm still nervous that increasing my mileage will bring them back, though.

             4:15 might be doable if you get enough training volume (weekly miles), but on 4 days/week that's going to be difficult.  It's a balancing act between getting the necessary training and staying injury free... we're all different in this regard.

             

             

            Agree with all this.

             

            You might look at the Higdon plans, all free online at www.halhigdon.com. There are a number of different versions, you can see what seems to fit best for you.

             

            You don't give any info about your training history, but in general I would focus more on building weekly mileage volume than intensity. If you keep your log on RA and make it public, people here can help you a lot more. If you have any log history in some digital format, it can generally be uploaded here.

             

            I can't speak to your injury, but I think you are better to get to 5 days a week if you can. Less than that is just not very good prep for a successful marathon, imho. But people run marathons on all kinds of training or lack thereof, just need the appropriate goal & expectations.

            Dave

               

               

              Also, you might want to post this in the Marathon Race Training forum.  You'll get good pace advice there (at least better than what I can offer).  

               

              Plenty of people here can help too!

              Dave

              bluerun


              Super B****

                I can't really speak for anything re: training, because, like you, I'm a stress fracture magnet -- I've had a dozen of them.  (A literal dozen, not, "I've had a lot so I'll just say a dozen."  Pelvic, sacral, calcaneal, and tibial [malleolus].)  I've run three marathons, and I plan to retire from them after Boston 2018 because I just don't love the distance.  I've never been particularly high mileage, because I can't "train" for marathons per se, so I don't necessarily think the distance is bad for someone with a tendency toward stress fractures.  Then again, not everyone is willing to run a marathon off such low mileage like I did.

                 

                A couple of things:

                 

                Do you know why you get so many stress fractures?  Have you had your bone density tested?

                 

                If you can get access to an AlterG treadmill, I can't recommend it enough.  I break a lot, but there is no doubt in my mind that I'd break far more without it.

                chasing the impossible

                 

                because i never shut up ... i blog

                Bert-o


                I lost my rama

                   

                  Plenty of people here can help too!

                   

                     ....yeah, I ate my words the moment I hit post.  I just meant that I don't see Ilana, Cafery or others who have provided tons of marathon pace advice very often over here.

                  3/17 - NYC Half

                  4/28 - Big Sur Marathon  DNS

                  6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour

                  8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours

                  Quickadder


                    Lizard, I ran my first marathon in March of 2017 at age 62. My pace is similar to yours and I think your idea of 4:15 for goal time is very reasonable. I ended up slower because I went out too fast, hitting 13.1 at 2:03, instead of sticking with the pacers.

                     

                    I did not follow a specific training plan, though I had been doing my long runs with a small group of runners using various plans for 4:00 to 4:10 targets. I had been running less than 2 years, but had consistently been running 20-30 mpw for several months, usually with just 3 runs per week. Ahead of the marathon I did increase mileage to around 30-35mpw mainly by extending the weekly long run. I mix in some trail runs and tempo runs to keep the training fun to do. I ran 3 HMs (2 road & 1 trail) in the 3 months prior to the Marathon.

                     

                    Can't help you regarding the stress fractures. Listen to your body and keep both your training and the race within its limits and you should have an enjoyable experience.

                    Started running at age 60.

                    AG 60-64 PR - 5K 25:45, 10K 53:28, HM 1:57:39, Marathon 4:32:09

                    AG 65-69 PR - 5K 26:11, HM 2:02:39, Marathon 5:04:47

                     


                    Booyah!

                      I did CoDel last year, it was flat and cool, but windy at times, especially closer to the water.

                      Not enough to really slow you down much though. I did PR at the time.

                      It is small and the logistics are not an issue.

                      They have 4;00, 4:15, 4:30 pacers in your range. If you feel a 4:15 is in the cards after your training,

                      that  group may be the way to go. Good Luck with staying injury free.

                      PR's:

                      5K- 20:15 (2017)   HM- 1:39:38 (2012)    FM- 3:26:53 (2016)